Tales of the Unknown: Volume I - The Bard's Tale

The Good
This game was an innovative game in every aspect. It introduced concepts that would not be implemented in computer role-playing games for years, including the idea of being able to improve a character's basic statistics with each level gained. The story, while basic, was strong, with the characters questing to defeat a mad god. The dungeon crawls were filled with traps and mazes, and each had its own distinct layout. The turn-based combat was full of options, and the variety of monsters was immense. The variety of character classes and races to choose from was staggering, especially for a game of its time, and the ability for spell-casters to change classes was quite a welcome feature. In addition, the choice of spells was large, and gave a flavor to the game not felt for almost a decade. Finally, the hint text file that came with the program was an example of what every single hint file should strive to be. It gave hints to the game about what was needed, without being specific as to the location of these essential ingredients, and did this in a very entertaining story of the last group of adventurers to attempt to defeat the mad god.

The Bad
The lack of an auto-map feature was crippling to this game, as the dungeons were all arranged in a similar format, yet were unique enough to not be able to use one standard map. True, none of the games of the time had an automap feature (Ultima, Wizardry), but since the ascii predecessors of these games, like Rogue, had a map layout, it couldn't have been too difficult to implement, and would have saved hours of frustration, especially when coupled with the teleportation traps in the later dungeons.

The Bottom Line
This is the very definition of what a role-playing game should be. It had a strong story, a wide range of characters, and a variety of treasures and monsters. This game outshone all of its contemporaries, and is far better than many rpgs released today. For the serious gamer, it is essential to find a copy of this and play it to the conclusion; this is where true computer rpgs began. Also, this is a required play for anyone designing a rpg of any sort, because of the simple elegance it possesses in its character creation, development, and combat design.

The Good
Wow. I got this game when it first came out for my Commodore. I was totally blown away by the graphics! Amazing. Some of the monsters actually moved! You know what I mean? This game took me practically forever to complete--being back in the days before the internet gave you hints and maps for free. (You couldn't get through this game without the hint book I don't think because the mapping is nearly impossible in Mangar's tower for instance.) So I had to fork over the $15 for the guide book and then you still had trouble. Just because you had the map, it didn't tell you where you got teleported too!

I spent so many hours (and spell points) typing SCSI, and counting on my homemade grid! It would be tough today for this game to make it because people (myself included) have become jaded with this sort of gameplay. When you have Baldur's Gate to compare this to, which would you choose to play. I think you can argue that Bard's Tale is probably equally as good a game though...just not in quite as slick a package.

About a year ago I found a package of Interplay games on the shelf in my local store (Ultimate RPG Archives), and it has the complete Bard's Tale series in it (along with Wasteland which no serious gamer should be without but that's another review!). Over the next few months I played through BT 1 and 2 and part of BT3 before time reasserted itself and I had to get back to real life. All I can say is that this game still holds up after all these years which is quite an accomplishment.

The Bad
I suppose to be honest, the part I disliked the most was the difficulty in mapping. While I very much enjoy mapping dungeons, I didn't like all the darkness areas, spinners, and teleports. But hey, Mangar was just making it tough on you! Wouldn't be much of a game if you just marched in the front door and killed him now would it! Also, I was never able to save my party and continue on with them in BT2 like I was supposed to be able to do. I had to download a character editor and recreate each character from BT1 exactly in BT2 and then use them. Don't know why, but it irked me.

The Bottom Line
Certainly this game is one that every game collector needs to have on their shelf!

The Good
Back when I first purchased this game, I was taken with the cool EGA graphics. And when you met a monster, you had the cool moving image of said creature. Ah, the goblins who's lips curled, the skeleton who's eye-sockets lit up, the magic users who flashed electricity, etc. And since I'd just completed Ultima III, Bard's Tale seemed all that much cooler. The nifty nods to Tolkien (with the Mithril weapons and the Barlogs) were appreciated and the game as a whole rocked.

The Bad
Ah yes, the dungeon play sucked in the later levels. All dungeons were the same size (say 16x16 for example) but to give the illusion of more space (and to confuse the player), most dungeons when you got to one end would appear to continue to go on. Say you were in position 16,16 and you went on. You'd then find yourself (if you went east) in position 1,16. That combined with the "oh, your light went out" areas and "spin" areas made mapping dungeons almost impossible and certainly very tedious. The only way I and my friends ended up solving the game was to buy the cheat book since the book had all the dungeons mapped.

The Bottom Line
Bottom line, this game was a great RPG game for its day. I wouldn't mind seeing a "Bard's Tale Redux" come out using modern computer technology for the graphics, sound, and auto-mapping!

The Good
What I loved about this game was that it greatly improved on Wizardry's graphics. Now you had color, textures, and motion of the monsters whenever you had an encounter!

I liked too the fact that you could level up your spell casters (conjurer and magician, I believe) to their max spell learning level, and then have them change class, learning each other's spells. Now that made for some powerful characters! Then you could make one of them a wizard, the other a sorcerer, and max them out again, then switch classes again. Super neat! Eventually both your spell casters could cast every spell in the book!

The bard adds a nice touch too. He plays the tunes that protect and enhance the party, but needs to be liquored up from time to time :)

The Bad
Skara Brae reminded me too much of Southern California housing tracts - a numbing sameness of shape and color buildings in every direction. Any color house you want to look at, as long as it's spanish style - stucco, with a ceramic tile roof!

I really looked forward to getting into the dungeons!

The teleporters in the final levels of the last maze kicked my butt, and I never did finish the darn game.

The Bottom Line
A great dungeon RPG in the day!

The Good
The Bards Tale series was probably as good as it gets for first person RPGs back in the 80s. Like the Wizardry series, Bards Tale is up there as one of the RPG classics.

The Bad
I expected too much from this game by the time I got around to playing it (in the 90s). I never did finish Bards Tale. It just got too redundant and 80s graphics/sound just couldn't hold a candle up to their 90s counterpart anymore. I rarely give up on a RPG game. But I've given up on this one twice already.

The Bottom Line
This was a great game in its own time, but I don't see why any one these days would want to go back to play it except as an archeological endeavor.

The Good
I was a Wizardry fan and was excited about the new RPG opportunities home computers opened up. I admired Wizardry, but was blown away by Bard's Tale and it's pioneering use of animation and artwork. From the original version for the Apple II, I'd never seen such competent graphics or elegant programming. For the first time, I actually felt like I was exploring the world, not just viewing it. The immersive gameplay and striking graphics made it a standout for years to come.

I even bought the Amiga version when it came out, even though I had played-through the Apple II version (of course it blew away the Apple II version; it included even more groundbreaking effects). A very important game in the history of computer role-playing games.

The Bad
The only thing I didn't like about the game were really just the limitations of the Apple II, but they did the most with what the Apple II could do. These limitations were overcome with the Amiga version.

The Bottom Line
A groundbreaking game in the history of computer role-playing games. Not a standout by today's standards, but incomparable for its time.

The Good
This game gave you a simplistic interface, good graphics, and lots of hacking and slashing. Who can forget the little things like teleporting into the room with 4 groups of 99 bezerkers. Or wandering for days on the dark level in Mangar's tower. It is an absolute must for all RPG players to play this game.

The Bad
The only thing that I did not like about this game is that I owned a Tandy 1000 at the time it came out for the Commodore 64, and I had to wait for something like a year to a year and a half before it was released for the PC. Also, the sound was a little basic, but what could you expect for the time. I am probably just biased due to the advances in sound technology for the PC.

The Bottom Line
A great hack 'n slash dungeon crawl with a lot of gameplay.

The Good
Excellent graphics on the Amiga hardward, and incredible use of sound that was unprecedented at the time. The gameplay loop is addictive and fun. Challenge is incredible. You will get your money's worth.

The Bad
There is a steep learning curve, and a lot of randomness when it comes to combat and encounters.

The Bottom Line
A fantasic computer role-playing game that has stood the test of time.

The Good
This game had everything a fantasy gamer could want: fighters, paladins, wizards, elves, dwarves, and even hobbits! Dungeons, monsters, treasures - plenty of exciting challenges that unlocked the imagination.

The Bad
Getting past level 1 was almost silly - the initial game balance was a little bit out of whack.

The Bottom Line
Bard's Tale was a great game of dungeon-delving, a computerized D&D spin-off. I had loads of fun building my characters, creeping through tunnels, fighting monsters and collecting treasures. For role playing enthusiasts, the game provided the perfect opportunity to imagine warriors and paladins swinging their swords against the forces of chaos and wizards casting spells and pursuing power. Elves, dwarves, hobbits and humans united against evil - and it was all up to your party of adventurers to save the realm!

The Good
The graphics were incredible on my old C64, as well as the sound, excellent playability, as well as the character creation.

The Bad
Was repetitive sometimes

The Bottom Line
My first fantasy rpg, that is still cool to play to this day. If they were only as simple as this today....sigh

The Good
An original storyline, from a time where graphics weren't what drew people to play a game. Replayability is fairly high, even though the game takes place within one city (unlike later Bard's Tales). And, hardcore RPGer that I am, I like that this game (and others from the time) doesn't have an auto-mapping feature.

The Bad
Graphics are marginal (to be expected), and the sound is the PC speaker "beeps" and "boops".

The Bottom Line
One of the groundbreakers in the genre. Set up the field for BT 2 and BT 3, both great games as well.

The Good
I throughly enjoyed the First Person View. I also like the night & day cycles, how the town felt large enough to feel like a town, and of course the many, many entertaining puzzels. Some easy, most insanely hard but fun LOL! The way the player's group or party was handled was done very well. And I very much liked how the player could get almost any monster to join the player's group - either through mindwashing, or from monsters asking to join. Customer service was also the most best ever for any game I have ever played. Including all of today's games. There was a knowledgeable guy always available a phone call away. He also played the game heheh. And knew it inside out.

The Bad
Some of the puzzies took a heck of a long time to figure out. The dungeon traps and barriers that would spin you around. And how some dungeons were magically pitch dark not allowing light to be seen or used. I didn't like any of this stuff.... but it added to the fun.

The Bottom Line
One of the earliest, and successful, dungeons & dragons, sword and sorcery, might and magic, type of world RPGs. Up there with Ultima, and Phantasie. Full of many original ideas. It has many game features that were revolutionary in its day - and that modern games can still learn from!